Caleb's New Girlfriend
by livvylovesyou
Summary: In retrospect, maybe he wasn't so cool with the idea of Caleb dating his ex. But what was he supposed to say? "No, I broke up with her a year ago so you can't have her"? As sickening as Tony found seeing the two of them together, there really wasn't much he could do. Unless he wanted to totally ruin his friendship with Caleb. Cat's New Boyfriend, Genderswapped. Needs a better name.


Tony Vega slammed his locker door, struggling to balance a stack of books on his arm. Tony had never been one for balance. He glanced athis phone screen. He had ten minutes until his next class started, and he still needed to get all this stuff back to Rosie Shapiro, who had lent him her notes to study for his tech exams. Tony sighed and started off to meet Rosie at her locker.

As luck (or lack thereof) would have it, a lean, tanned girl slammed into him and his books went flying. She muttered an apology, bending down to scoop up his papers, dark brown hair falling in her eyes and obscuring her face. When she did meet his eyes, though, Tony almost screamed out loud. "Dani!"

Oh, no. Tony had hoped that after his transfer from Sherwood, he would never have to see her again. Dani was a bit of a strange one to begin with, but having Dani here made Tony's stomach churn. She made him uncomfortable in the strangest way, and a little freaked out. Maybe it was the way she was so up-front with her sex appeal. Either way, it was creepy, and he wanted to get out of this conversation before it even started. He studied her quickly. Tight light wash jeans hugging her curves, cork wedges elongating her legs, a white tank top and a cropped leather jacket that barely covered her ribcage. Tony had to look away. Yowch.

Dani jerked up, staring deeply at him as if trying to remember who he was. Her eyes widened with comprehension. "Tony? You go to school here? Wait, I thought this school was for cool kids. With actual talent." The corners of her lips twitched upward.

Tony rolled his dark eyes. "Nice to see you haven't changed a bit, Dan."

"So when did you get into performing, Mr. Cool-football-team-jock-boy-"drama-kids-are-nerds"-Tony-Vega?" She shoved her hands into her back pockets and rocked back and forth on her wedge heels, the fabric of her jeans tightening against her legs. Tony shook his head and looked away. He did not remember Dani ever being this hot. She grinned. "Whatcha looking at, Vega?"

"Um, my brother got into a fist fight right before he was supposed to go onstage. Got his nose broken. You know Trace."

Dani rolled her eyes with a soft laugh. "Unfortunately."

"So who's that?" came a low voice from behind them. Tony's fists clenched reflexively. That could only be one Jamie West, and Tony was not in the mood to put up with his arch-rival at the moment. A softer female voice reminding Jamie to be nice soothed Tony's nerves. With Jamie came Belle Oliver, his girlfriend, who was one of Tony's best friends and always the voice of reason.

"Danielle. Hey." Dani said, waving awkwardly.

"Why are you talking to Tony?" Jamie sneered. Belle smacked his arm.

"Be nice, Jamie!"

Tony waved it off. "She goes to my old school, Sherwood. She was my girlfriend for a little while." Dani looked even more uncomfortable than before.

"So why'd you dump him?" Jamie said with a smirk. Belle rolled her eyes.

Dani shifted her weight. "Tony broke up with me, actually."

"And how'd you celebrate?"

Belle interjected before her boyfriend could do too much damage. "So what are you doing here?"

"Well, I've been going out with this guy that goes here." Dani looked around quickly, looking a bit uncomfortable. And for good reason. Jamie was staring at her in ways that made even Tony, standing a few paces away, feel nervous. "I was supposed to meet him, like, now, but-"

"Danielle!" They heard a voice from the top of the stairs. Caleb Valentine was smiling broadly, his wide brown eyes shining.

"Hey, babe!" Dani squealed, jumping into his arms and kissing him. Hard. On the lips.

Tony had never felt so awkward in his life. A rush of rage, jealousy, and sadness hit him like a bus, so hard he couldn't tell one emotion from another. Part of him wanted to claw her off of his friend. And a smaller, stronger part wanted to go cry in a corner. Even Belle, the most tolerant of the group, was looking a bit put off by this very public display of affection.

"Sixteen seconds." she announced once they finally pulled apart and Caleb put Dani back on the ground.

"See you've met my girl, Vega." Caleb exclaimed, nudging Tony's shoulder. "Danielle, this is Belle and Jamie, and Tony."

"Yeah, we've met." Tony grumbled.

"Really? You know Danielle?"

"He knows Danielle pretty well, actually." Tony shot Jamie a warning look, signaling the gothic boy to shut up.

"You guys are making this reeeeally awkward. Is there something going on here?" Caleb looked confused, as was usual. Caleb Valentine was famous around Hollywood Arts for his obsession with gummy bears and how easy it was to confuse him.

_Put it nicely, Vega... _"Well, I used to go to Sherwood with Dani before I came to school here."

Caleb relaxed visibly. "Oh! So you're friends. Cool."

Jamie chuckled. "Really good friends, Caleb. They were really close, if you know what I mean."

"Wait, was that an innuendo? Because you know I'm not good at that stuff." Okay, with his head tilted to the side like that, Tony could see how Dani might find Caleb somewhat better-looking than him. But what about the abs? Tony knew for a fact that when shirtless, Caleb had nothing on him. Dani should have- Tony stopped the thought in its tracks, focusing back on the conversation. _Okay, Vega, you dumped her, remember? Get over yourself._ "Okay, seriously! I'm confused." Caleb whimpered, running a hand through the dark blond hair that was constantly hanging in his eyes.

Tony shifted his weight. Guys like Caleb could be hard to talk to. Especially because he was sure as hell that no matter how he phrased it, Caleb was bound to freak out. _Um, hey, Caleb, I slept with your girlfriend?_ Not a chance. "Dani and I… we went out a couple times."

Caleb's brow furrowed. "Okay, wait. So you and Tony were like-" He lifted his two index fingers and linked them around each other, then shook out his hands, obviously confused again.

It was Dani who broke the silence. "Yeah…"

Caleb stared down at the floor. "Um, wow, I-"

Tony couldn't stand the look on Caleb's face. "No, dude, it's okay. I'm totally cool with you guys dating."

Dani jumped in next. "And I love that you guys are friends."

In response, Caleb pulled Dani closer and kissed her on the forehead. "Cool." Dani gave him a little smile and snuggled up against his side, and Tony had to look away to keep from vomiting. Jamie rolled his eyes.

"I'm bored now."

"I apologize for him." Belle said, wincing.

* * *

With Dani on all of their minds, conversation had been strained all day. It really took a day for things to blow over. They were at lunch the next time Caleb even spoke to Tony. It went well, considering. The standard fare of How-was-your-day and Nice-weather-we're-having gave way to real conversation, and live went on. What was surprising to Tony was that the subject of Dani hadn't come up once. Tony could finally relax and have a nice, normal, girl-free conversation with his best friend.

He should have known it wouldn't last.

She sort of appeared out of nowhere. Tony's eyes widened when she snuck up behind him, on her toes so as not to make too much noise with her heels. Tony let his head fall into his hands and sighed with exasperation. "What's up, Vega?" Caleb asked, concerned.

Dani pressed a finger to her lips and snuck up behind Caleb, covering his eyes with her hands. "Guess who?" she squealed.

Caleb smiled. "Belle?"

The dark girl chuckled, smacking his broad shoulder. "Dude. I'm sitting right next to you."

"Right. Hey, Belle!" he said, reaching out and tracing Belle's features with his fingers.

"And he's touching my face." Belle said with a laugh, licking Caleb's finger as he brushed her lips. Jamie slapped his hand away.

"Give up? It's me, silly!" Dani giggled, mussing up his hair and plopping down onto his lap.

"Danielle!" Caleb caught her around the back and kissed and kissed her. Again. Tony rolled his eyes, and Jamie smirked. "What are you doing here, baby?"

"I had a half day and thought I'd come visit you for lunch."

Jamie had this look on his face like a lion stalking prey, and Tony could tell whatever he was about to say would not go over well. "Well, this is nice. Danielle gets to have lunch with her new boyfriend and her used boyfriend."

Knew it.

"Try and make it awkward all you want, West. It's not gonna work!" Tony snapped. Caleb nodded gratefully. The second he looked away, Tony stuck his tongue out at Jamie. Belle snorted.

"So, did you invite Danielle to the kickback?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

Caleb's eyes widened as if he'd just remembered they were having one of those. "Oh. Right. Tomorrow there's gonna be a party in the school parking lot. There's gonna be live music-"

"A cheese fountain-" Belle interjected, flashing one of her trademark smiles.

"-and dancing and stuff. Come with me?"

"Yeah, totally!" Dani looked genuinely excited until Jamie spoke up.

"Will Tony be there?" Jamie asked suddenly. Tony had to hold back a growl as he spat out the answer.

"Yes, Jamie, I will be." A long silence fell over the table. Dani twisted the ends of her dark hair, trying to pretend she felt a lot less awkward than she really did. And Jamie just smiled deviously, feeding off the negative energy like a leech.

"Oh, guess what I have?" Caleb said, completely oblivious to the change in atmosphere, breaking the silence with a huge smile. "Chocolate covered gummy bears!"

"Um, C-Man, Dani doesn't eat candy." Tony interjected, trying to be chivalrous. Dani flashed him a grateful smile that made his spine tingle.

Caleb laughed. "That's ridiculous. Everyone likes candy. Open."

"I never said I didn't like it, um, sugar-" Dani tried, but Caleb wouldn't hear it. He popped the gummy bears right between her lips. Dani frowned, chewed, and swallowed. "Wow. These are really good."

"What?" Tony spat, hoping it didn't reflect the venom seeping from his thoughts.

"She said, Caleb's candy is really good." Jamie clarified, a huge, mocking grin playing across his features.

Caleb frowned. "That was another innuendo, wasn't it?" he whined, glaring at Jamie. "Why does everything sound weird when _you_ say it, West?"

Tony, however, wasn't listening. He was focused in on Dani, who was staring at him with an expression that clearly read_ Dude, what the hell_. "I bought you chocolate, like, five times, and you said you didn't eat sugar."

"Why are you freaking out, Tony? It's no big deal." To emphasize her point, Dani reached over and grabbed a huge handful of gummy bears, shoving them in her mouth and chewing obnoxiously. Tony knew that if she had still been with him, he would be hearing about calories until next Sunday. It wasn't fair. Tony's jaw clenched and Caleb gave him a warning look.

"Try some!" the blond boy encouraged, holding the bag out to Tony. He reached into the bag, grabbed a handful of the... interesting snack, and chewed furiously, while maintaining eye contact with Dani. She squirmed uncomfortably in Caleb's lap.

"Is it good?" Belle finally asked. In lieu of a response, Tony slammed his hand down on the table and stormed off, leaving a confused Dani and a grinning Jamie behind.

* * *

Tony had never attended a Hollywood Arts kickback before, and it was proving to be a good time. Dani and Caleb were nowhere to be found, and Mrs. Sikowitz was handing out free sausage. For once, Tony could put all this "ex-boyfriend" junk behind him and focus on having a good time with friends.

He bit into his sausage, innocently watching couples on the dance floor, and he spotted Dani, unmistakably sexy even from afar. The minute he saw her, he wished he hadn't. Dani's hands were all over, up and down Caleb's arms and chest and tangled in his thick blond hair. It was like watching a creepy fetish film.

"That's so gross." Tony muttered to himself. "She's just rubbing him. That's not even dancing."

Jamie came up behind him, looping a thick arm around his shoulder. "Jealous?"

"No." Tony lied. "It's just weird. It's like she's giving him a pat-down or something."

"Caleb's not complaining." Jamie pointed out. "What? Danielle ever touch you like that?"

"Up yours, James."

"That an offer?"

"Caleb's right. Everything does sound weirder when you say it." Tony made a face. "What does she see in him, anyways?"

"He's friendly. Not hideously deformed. Brings girls chocolate gummy bears. Ditzy as anything, which means she can manipulate him. Acts like a human puppy. Half-decent dancer. Sings. Would never-"

"Shut up." Tony grumbled, shoving Jamie away.

Tony walked several laps around the school before settling on the cheese fountain as the place where Dani and Caleb were least likely to be. After all, Dani didn't eat cheese. Too much fat. But luck was not, and never seemed to be, in Tony's favor. Dani and Caleb were right next to the fountain, trying to swallow each other whole.

Wow. Who knew the smell of heated, yellow cheese could drive a girl so crazy?

The more Tony looked, though, the more he couldn't stand to see it. Dani did not belong with Caleb. Dani was his, and she would always be his, and no one, not Caleb, not anyone could stop him from getting her back. And in that instant all Tony knew is that he needed to get her away from him in any way possible.

Kicking over the cheese fountain counted among those possible ways.

A wave of warm cheese drenched the couple, and Dani let out a piercing scream. "You got cheese on my dress!" she shrieked, shaking the microscopically small skirt. "This is dry-clean only!"

"What the hell, man?" Caleb asked, partly amused, partly put out by the amount of cheese seeping into his dark blond curls.

Tony took a deep breath, ready to explain. But Dani's scream had drawn a crowd, and he really didn't feel like an audience. So he did the only thing he could do, which was to run and hide like a little girl until this whole thing blew over. He took off running into the dark, where he shut himself in a shed and waited in silence.

* * *

The door to the athletic shed creaked open, bathing the small room where Tony crouched in the darkness with light. Two silhouettes were outlined by night. "Tony! We saw you run in here!" The soft, fluid voice belonged to Belle, who Tony was glad to see.

Someone kicked a lacrosse stick to the floor. "You're gonna get in a crapload of trouble when people find out you're in here!" And the harsher tones belonged to Jamie, who Tony was not.

Tony couldn't resist. "Who says he'll find out?"

"I do." Jamie said with a smirk, waving his phone in Tony's face.

Tony stood, shoving him away. "I hate you, West." Jamie was about to reply, but Belle pushed him away and grabbed Tony's arm.

"What just happened, Tony?"

He took a deep breath and sighed loudly. "I don't know. You guys know I'm not the jealous type. I've never done anything like that before, but- seeing my ex-girlfriend making out with Caleb, I just lost it for a second. I have to go apologize to them." Belle nodded knowingly, even giving him a friendly push out the door. Jamie called something after him, something about scraping his remains off the pavement after Helen was finished with him, but Tony didn't stick around to listen. He needed Dani and Caleb. And he knew just where to find them.

Dani sat alone on the steps of the school, no noticing Tony's approach. Knowing her, she was mourning the lost dress. Tony had no idea what had become of it. At the moment, Dani was wearing an oversized plaid button down that Tony didn't think belonged to her, and a pair of boxer shorts that Tony was positive belonged to a certain Caleb Valentine.

No other boy at Hollywood Arts would be caught dead in pink boxers.

"Dani, hi..." He approached her carefully, so as not to startle her. She lifted her head and gave him a sad look, like nothing he could say could fix this. Tony gave a quick look around. Something was missing. "Where's Caleb?"

Dani sighed, stomping her foot on the ground. A flash of anger rolled across her pretty features. "He's still trying to get cheese out of his hair. What the hell was that about, Tony? Were you jealous? Because you have no right to be jealous. You broke up with me."

"I know. It makes no sense. I guess it's just- I don't know."

"Are you still into me?"

The question shocked him into silence. He hadn't thought so. But Dani looked so good, and she had so much going for her... he really did hate to see her with some other guy. Even Caleb. "I don't know. Caleb's the greatest guy ever. I'm stoked you guys are going out. It's just-"

Her lips looked really soft.

He didn't realize he was kissing her until he felt her arms around his neck. With a practiced fluidity she rolled her hands under his shirt, tracing the muscles in his back, and he ran his fingers down her waist, feeling her tense with pleasure at his lightest touch. _This was the way it should have been_, he realized. _This is what's meant to be. Only Dani can do this to me. I need her._ She moved closer into him and he gripped her legs, felt her gasp for air, and slowly worked his hands around front and under her clothes...

Tony heard a little broken gasp from behind him. He jerked away from Dani and spun around, not even noticing as she fell to the floor. There stood Caleb, in the doorway, looking like someone had just run over his cat. "Why… how… what the hell is going on?" he stammered, his face looking increasingly confused and hurt with each passing moment.

"Oh, god, Caleb!" Dani squealed, pulling herself off the ground and running to him. "It's not what it looks like!"

Tony could tell Caleb was fighting angry tears when he replied. "Well, that's good, because it looks like you were cheating on me with my ex-best friend, in public, too, which also makes it look like you don't give a damn about my feelings, and-" He broke. "Why would you do that?" He didn't wait for an answer.

"Caleb, wait!" Dani called, running after him and leaving Tony alone on the stairwell.

_Great. Just great. _

* * *

Caleb still hadn't called by Sunday.

Tony had expected him to. Caleb had such a forgiving nature. Had it been anyone else, Trace, or Jamie (Tony did not want to think about what Jamie would have done if Tony had even gone near Belle), he could understand the silent treatment. Not Caleb. No doubt the other boy was just waiting around for Tony to apologize. But that would have to wait for Monday. Tony was not about to go over to Caleb's house. It would be an interesting situation to have to explain to his mother.

Caleb still hadn't called by Monday. He still wouldn't talk to Tony in the hallways. And soon enough, Tony simply decided that he would have to take matters into his own hands. So when he saw him walking to acting class, head down and dragging his feet, he just had to step in. "Caleb!"

Tony reached out and grabbed Caleb's arm. Caleb shoved at him. "Get off me!" he shouted, attracting the attention of a whole slew of bystanders.

"I have to talk to you!" Tony whined, tugging at Caleb's sleeve.

"I don't wanna talk to you!"

"You're being really immature."

"Oh, really? You're being a asshole. Back off!" Caleb growled. "I will hit you, I'm not-"

Ms. Sikowitz sashayed down the hall past them. She smiled when she saw them. "Hello boys, can you believe I just scored tickets to Hall and Oates? Toodleoo!"

"Jesus Christ, Tony!" Caleb shouted as Tony shoved him into the janitor's closet. "Let me out!"

"I'm sorry, okay! I'm really, really sorry!"

"You felt up my girlfriend. In front of my face." he said, looking a bit pained as he spoke. "Why?"

Tony shifted his weight. "Dani's, well, Dani. I guess a part of my still sees her as my Dani. And then when I saw her with you, dancing, in that skirt... God, she looked hot in that skirt-"

Tony wasn't expecting the punch. Caleb wasn't the violent type. Tony had never seen the guy kill a bug, let alone punch a person. So Tony, unprepared, felt the full force of the blow as Caleb's knuckles smashed into his jaw. His body hit the wall, his hands flew to his cheek, and he stared at Caleb with wide eyes, waiting for him to say something. Caleb's mouth fell open, and it looked like he was struggling for words. "Holy shit, man, I didn't mean-"

"No. I guess I was kinda being a douche." Speaking sent a bolt of pain through his chin, and he groaned. Caleb's eyebrows cinched together, concerned.

"You okay?"

Tony put a hand to his jaw and tried to make it move. A painful snapping noise was all that came of it, and he fell back against the wall. "Jesus, Valentine, I think you broke my face. You got a hell of a right hook, you know, for you."

Caleb's eyes narrowed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. Ah!" A sharp stab of pain shot through his mouth, and he gasped.

"Does it hurt?" Tony gave him a look that clearly said _No shit._ Caleb's face collapsed, and this guilty expression came over him. Well, either guilt or constipation. "God, now I feel bad. Why'd you do that?"

"Do what?" he exclaimed, slightly perplexed.

"Make me feel bad about it! It's your fault!" And Tony found himself laughing through the pain. It was so like Caleb to say something like that. Tony realized, then, that maybe that was the reason he had been so bitter at the kickback. He just wanted his friend back.

"I know, I know- Can you drive me to a hospital? I'm starting to lose feeling in my jaw."

"Wait." Caleb said softly, with a shy smile.

Tony frowned. "What?"

Caleb opened his arms, urging Tony to come forward. "I at least wanna know you're willing to put all this past us."

"Huh?" Tony managed, massaging the side of his face.

"Hug me, doofus."

"No one's called me a doofus since, like, third grade." Tony walked into Caleb's arms, squeezing his shoulder. It felt good, and Tony felt a little sense of victory for having won his friend back.

"Not to your face." Caleb said with a smile. "Come on, let's go. You're getting swollen."

* * *

**That was a monthly challenge for the Topaz Awards Forum :) Challenge: Genderswap a Victorious episode. Obviously, this was Cat's New Boyfriend.**

**And it's 1 AM so you can blame that for how bad this came out. **


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